This latest public forum on the city’s No. 1 issue, public safety, focused on the theme “Violence Prevention” and offered a number of active organizations and agencies the opportunity to share what they are doing in the field and inspire greater public participation.

OVP manager LaTosha Walden said she was “excited” by the attendance of about 75 participants to hear speakers from The OWL Movement, El Concilio, NAACP Youth Council, Mary Magdalene, My Brother’s Keeper, University of the Pacific and the San Joaquin County District Attorney’s Office Family Justice Center.

Family Justice Center Director Suzanne Schultz used the opportunity to share information on the pervasive crime of human sex trafficking in the community.

“We wanted people to see a broader perspective of what violence prevention is all about,” Walden said of the variety of invited groups.

“We need all hands on deck to make a change in the community,” Walden said, garnering nods and shout-outs from the audience.

Maurice Horton is a supervisor with the city’s Peacekeepers, a program that predates the initiation of the OVP by more than a decade. He described the individuals who work as Peacekeepers as constantly “on the front line, on the streets meeting high-risk clients” with a high probability of becoming involved with gangs and violence.

Their two-pronged focus? “Prevention and intervention,” Horton said. Of late, the Peacekeepers have been working with young men between 18 and 28, the demographic most likely to be involved in a shooting incident. But that doesn’t mean they’ve forgotten about children and teenagers.

“We see a lot of kids at the Juvenile Justice Center Camp 360 program,” Horton said. “The kids at the camp are at very high risk going back into the community, and we want to make sure when they step back out there they know they are not alone. We try to connect with them early.”

Of the older high-risk group, Horton said Peacekeepers “work extremely hard” to ensure those clients know the Peacekeepers care about them. With some, he said, “you can see that the gang lifestyle is getting old and that they are looking for a way out.”

One of the most productive and life-changing things they can do is help a client get a job, he explained.

Horton then introduced the first of a new series of four videos produced by the OVP highlighting the Peacekeeper program. The videos will be posted over the next six weeks to the city’s YouTube site @StocktonUpdates or follow the link from stocktonca.gov/ovp.

Martha Tachiquin, 63, a teacher at Alexander Hamilton Elementary School in southeast Stockton, learned about the community meeting the night before and decided to attend. She was thrilled she did.

“It was amazing,” Tachiquin said, explaining that she is in the midst of “dealing with a personal devil” after a close family member was arrested.

“You feel like there is no hope. I’m happy now,” the longtime teacher said after speaking directly to District Attorney Tori Verber Salazar, one of Thursday’s presenters. “I found somebody I could talk to who listened. It’s the first time I’ve seen the district attorney going out. It’s the first time I’ve gotten hope.”

Tachiquin, along with several other participants, was pleased to learn of the public library offerings outlined by Stockton Community Services Director John Alita that address violence prevention, such as its adult literacy, high school completion and higher education programs — all free.

Another presenter, Natasha Bass, described The OWL Movement as a nonprofit spreading love and positivity.

Its Junior Owls is a mentorship program for girls between 6 and 18 years old that works to build leadership skills and gives the girls an opportunity to be mentors themselves to their peers and others in their schools and neighborhoods. Unlike some other youth organizations, Junior Owls is free and thereby accessible to all.

Contact reporter Joe Goldeen at (209) 546-8278 or jgoldeen@recordnet.com. Follow him at recordnet.com/goldeenblog and on Twitter @JoeGoldeen.